


Team Meals and Competitions

by androgynousclintbarton



Category: Naruto
Genre: Contests, Dorks in Love, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21971041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: Neji is expecting a quiet quick meal with his teammates, but quickly finds himself having to deal with a ridiculous Sensei and his strange friend
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 154
Collections: KakaGai Week 2019 entries





	Team Meals and Competitions

Team Meal’s had never been Neji’s idea of a ‘good night out’. He much preferred to spend his time alone, focused on his training or doing the things he had been enjoying himself since he was a child. The quiet was much more preferable than Lee’s loud declarations of ‘passion’ and ‘youth’, an occurrence that had only gotten worse since their placement under Gai Sensei’s guidance as team 3. 

Most nights he would have turned down the offer, making a quick get away as soon as Gai Sensei had left them when their training had finished. Today, unfortunately, Tenten had acted just a second faster than him and grabbed his arm. She had insisted it would be good for them to have a team meal together, without their Sensei present. It would build up their comradery and make them a better functioning team. All things he wasn’t too concerned with improving, since he could take care of himself and had the capabilities to protect the team if there came a situation where Gai Sensei was unavailable.

Still, Gai Sensei was likely to give him an earful if he found out he had refused a night out with his team mates. He was always so concerned with how they got along and making sure that they worked together as a team rather than separate shinobi.

“Neji where do you think we should go?” Tenten’s question pulled him out of his thoughts, forcing him to examine the area around them in search of a place that might be appropriate for the three of them.

“How about the Sushi shop?” He looked over at Lee since he seemed to be the pickiest eater of the group, only ever wanting to eat Curry and raw vegetables.

“Sushi is a good option,” Lee agreed as his eyes examined the shop that Neji had pointed out “it’s a meal that is easy to share, improving opportunities to talk and enjoy each others company.”

It took a considerable amount of control for Neji not to roll his eyes. Why did everything have to be about ‘optimal opportunities’ with his teammate?

“Let’s just get in there before it fills up.” Tenten insisted, reaching out and grabbing both of her teammates arms so that she could pull them towards their destination. 

As soon as they stepped into the place Neji knew he had made the correct choice. Not only was the store nice, clean and comfortable looking. It was also quiet. There appeared to be only two other groups in the entire place even though the streets out front were jam packed with people.

Of course, his enjoyment of the place died a little when he recognized one of the few people currently occupying the store. 

Tenten groaned beside him “All these different places in the village, and somehow we manage to find ourselves in the same place as Gai Sensei.”

Lee turned his attention to his teammate, a look of horror etched across his face“How...is that a bad thing?”

Of course he thought it was a good thing. He always loved seeing their Sensei regardless of what the situation was.

“We came out here for a team meal, without Gai Sensei,” Neji reminded him calmly “If he ends up seeing us and inviting us over…”

“Oh, he won’t do that.” A smile broke out on Lee’s face. 

Neji turned his attention over to Tenten, hoping she had an answer for their teammates relaxed approach to the situation. Unfortunately, she looked just as confused as he was. 

“Ok, explain,” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited “how do you know he won’t try and call us over?”

“Because even if he does see us, he’s pre-occupied,” For emphasis, Lee turned back to look at where their Sensei was sitting and pointed out the man beside him. A Jonin like their Sensei judging by the uniform he wore. His bright silver hair stood up in the air, likely being kept in place by the headband that was slumped over one of his eyes. It was a little annoying that the only part of the man’s face he could see was his other eye, his nose and mouth being covered by a mask that seemed to be attached to his blue undershirt. “Gai Sensei almost never calls me over when I see him in public with that man.”

Neji didn’t need to ask how Lee knew all of this. The other boy had always been obsessed with training, even when Gai Sensei told him it was time for a break. It only made sense that he would find Gai Sensei during their time down and see him hanging out with his friend. 

“In that case,” He started to move towards the opposite side of the place, intent on having a nice quiet meal with his team before heading home for the night “we might as well leave them alone.”

“Or…” His back stiffend. Tenten sounded like she was getting an idea. It never ended well when Tenten got an idea, even back during their academy days everyone knew to steer clear if she sounded like an idea had come to her. It was safer that way for everyone. “Oh come on you two, aren't you the least bit curious?”

“Gai Sensei’s personal life is not something we should be meddling in,” Neji insisted, looking over at Lee for support “if he wants to spend a night out with his friend…”

“Ummmm, actually…” Lee diverted his eyes, a small blush crawling up the back of his neck “I think, i mean i don’t know for sure obviously but…”

“Spit it out Lee,” Tenten insisted “what is it that you think?”

“Well, I think that they might just be a little more than friends, you know?” Neji was certain his brain had stopped functioning. There was no way it could continue to work properly while it processed what exactly Lee had just said. Gai Sensei with friends was hard enough to believe most days, but Gai Sensei with someone who was more than friends? Who might even be something of a boyfriend? That was a little too much.

“Ok, now we HAVE to find out what’s going on,” Tenten insisted “if our Sensei has a boyfriend, we should know about him.”

Neji sighed in defeat. Tenten had obviously made up her mind which meant there was no arguing with her. So much for his quiet night out.

Still, spying on a pair of Jonin was not going to be easy. They were both more skilled than any of them, their ability to see danger or even just harmless Genin snoops was likely something the three of them had no hope of beating. 

“What…” Tenten narrowed her eyes, examining their sensei for a moment before the colour drained completely from her skin “are they serious?”

Neji immediately regretted his decision to turn around and examine what had caused Tenten to react in such a way. He had always known his Sensei was a little bit out there. Too energetic, too proud and far too focused on training for any sane person to be comfortable with, but this was a whole new level of weird.

The table in front of the pair of Jonin had been stock piled with more plates of Sushi than Neji could fathom either of them eating, but each plate was very quickly being emptied into their mouths. The piles of Nijiri, Sashimi and Maki were disappearing at insane rates, empty plates taking their place as the pair moved onto the next plate, and then the next one.

He had never seen someone eat so fast, barely leaving themselves any room to breathe let alone actually chew and swallow their food before shoving more into their mouth. And if that itself wasn’t amazing, he also found that he was watching Gai Sensei’s ‘partner’ doing it all while somehow keeping his mask in place. 

In any other case he might find himself amazed. It must have taken a lot of time for the man to learn how to remove and replace his mask at such high speeds that it looked like it wasn’t even moving as he ate. Today however, he was a little busy feeling disgusted. 

“Who eats that fast?” He groaned, reaching out immediately to cover Lee’s mouth when he opened his mouth to speak. The last thing he needed to hear was Lee gushing about how quickly their Sensei ate. He was likely already planning on asking their Sensei to teach him such a skill.

“This is the grossest thing i have ever seen.” for once Neji found himself agreeing with Tenten. How could two grown men act in such a manner? Especially when they were out in public like this.

Unfortunately, he found he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the scene. He wanted to see how it all ended, what the point of it was. His answer only came after standing there for another five minutes watching, the horror on his face only growing as their speed increased and more Sushi was brought out.

“Arge!” His body stiffened when Gai Sensei yelled in annoyance and slammed his hands down on the table, “Too much! I think my stomach is going to burst!”

Well, at least they were saved from having to see their Sensei shovel anymore food into his mouth. That was a bonus.

“Don’t tell me you’re full already,” The words were said in a lazy voice, a hand reaching out to pick up another piece of sushi as Gai Sensei’s partner turned his eyes towards him “Is your stomach getting smaller in your old age, Gai?”

“My stomach is as big as ever, Rival!” Oh, now everything made sense. They had heard about their Sensei’s rival. The man he had been having competitions with since childhood, who he considered a close friend and would never shut up about if given the chance. 

Of course that was who he spent his down time with.

“I don’t know, Gai,” the other man shrugged his shoulders “it seems to me like you can’t eat as much as you used to.” He held out a piece of sushi, closing his eyes when Gai Sensei shoved the offering away from his face and tried his best not to empty the contents of his stomach onto the table in front of them. “Hmmm, I think this is my win wouldn’t you say?”

“Don’t sound so smug,” ‘Smug’ was hardly a word Neji would use to describe the man’s tone of voice. ‘Bored’ and ‘monotone’ seemed to match up much better in his mind. “This just means your one point ahead of me. I can easily catch up in the next competition.”

“So long as you don’t try for another eater contest.” His partner shrugged in agreement, plopping the piece of sushi into his mouth at such as speed that even with his eyes glued on the man Neji somehow missed the moment that his face had become visible. “To date you’ve lost every single one of those.”

“I’m bound to win one,” Gai Sensei protested, groaning when his partner reached out for more sushi “what are you a bottomless pit?”

“I’m about half full,” the man shrugged, a small chuckle escaping his throat when their Sensei glared at them “If you want, you could invite those little spies of yours over to help me finish. That way at least you don’t have to see just how much more than you i can eat.”

Usually Neji would be insulted by the term ‘spies’. If they were Spies worthy of the name the Jonin wouldn’t have seen them at all. Right now, however, he was too busy trying his best not to be annoyed by the fact that Tenten and Lee had apparently decided to respond by hiding behind him when their Sensei turned his attention over to them.

“Neji, Lee, Tenten!” Their Sensei raised an arm to wave at them, regretting the movement almost immediately and putting his hand back down over his full stomach.

Well, so much for a quiet night out. 

As soon as their Sensei had acknowledged their presence Lee was off, bolting out from behind Neji and coming to a hard stop in front of the table that Gai Sensei and his partner were sitting at.

“We apologize for spying on you,” He dropped his head in a bow “we did not mean…”

“Ignore Kakashi’s words,” Gai Sensei smiled his usual bright smile “He’s just an introvert who’s never happy with surprise guests. Sit down, all of you.” His eyes darted over to Neji, not leaving for a second until the young Shinobi sighed in defeat and started to walk towards the table with Tenten right behind him. 

“I’m the one who said to invite them,” The man, Kakashi, protested even as their Sensei waved him off “Gai…”

“One quick question,” Tenten cut the older man off, smiling when their Sensei turned to look at her “what exactly was...well…” She waved towards the table as a poor substitute for her question.

  
“I think Tenten means to ask why you would have such an...odd competition.” Neji finished for her “When you tell us about your rival we tend to figure you mean competitions of sparing or intelligence…”

“Oh, we have those too,” Gai Sensei beamed “but all of our competitions are different. It’s important to have variety in your rivalry or else you risk it getting boring.”

Boring. That was an interesting way of putting it.

“Are you calling me boring, Gai?” Kakashi gave his Rival with an unimpressed look “if that’s the case maybe I should sleep in my own apartment tonight.”

“Ya, if you would let me make a competition out of who could handle a night without cuddles you’d lose within five minutes,” Gai Sensei shot back “nice try though, Rival”

Well, that solved that question. It was clear that the pair were more than just rivals based off of their banter. Though, the realization was a little terrifying in Neji’s opinion. He never thought he would meet someone who could handle their Sensei’s unique personality so well that they actually managed a romantic relationship with him.

“Aye, well at least I know my limits,” Kakashi threw Gai Sensei a judgemental look as he picked up another piece of sushi “we should really put Eating contests in the ‘unfair’ category”

‘Unfair category’? That was something Neji just had to hear about. Did their Sensei have contests he wouldn’t take part in because it was unbalanced? One of them had proven far too often that it was a category that they were simp.ly not going to lose?   
“What’s an ‘unfair’ competition?” Lee burst, unable to hold his own curiosity back. At least it saved Neji from having to ask for himself.

“Well, if all of you sit down I'm sure your Sensei would be more than willing to explain while he recovers from overeating.” Kakashi explained “and you can help yourselves. Everything is already paid for and I really do not need to eat all of this sushi alone. I honestly thought Gai would do better than this…”

Rather than responding to his partners Jab, Gai Sensei kept his attention on the three Genin in front of him, waiting for them each to take a seat on the other side of the table before he started to explain everything.

And boy, had Neji regretted ever wondering about his Sensei’s ‘legendary rivalry’


End file.
